Philips Collection Fire – Washington DC (USA)

On September 2, 2010, a fire started on the roof of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and it has been extinguished, with no injuries reported and no serious damage to artworks. The artworks could have incurred significant damage in the fire, which was “renovation-related.”

The blaze, which had erupted at about 8:30 a.m., was put out by a combination of the museum’s sprinkler system and responding firemen, but with limited water damage on all floors.

The fire was restricted to the collection’s building that served as the institution’s original home. After the fire has been extinguished, museum staff has moved artworks from the mansion into the adjacent Goh Annex.

The collection has been evacuated and closed after the fire spread smoke through the building. Fire alarms went off at the building around 8:30 a.m. .

The cause is still under investigation, but the building is under renovation and investigators believe welding work may be the culprit.

Automatic sprinklers were set off on all four floors of the museum, containing the fire which was then extinguished by firefighters.

The building sustained moderate water damage on all four floors, with the top two sustaining moderate smoke damage.

About 50 firefighters were at the gallery.

The museum currently holds some 3,000 artworks, primarily American and European.